The Children Of The Warehouse
by CLMScagliotti
Summary: My version of the story about Joshua, Claire and Claudia Donovan. It starts in 1999. What if they hadn't left Joshua and Claudia on their own to begin with? What if they had been looking for someone to take care of the siblings themselves? From the day Claire bought the music box, it's a little AU.
1. The Day It All Began

**A/N: KNOCK KNOCK. Here I am again. And after I've got a story set in the present and one in the future, I thought why not add one set in the past? I had an idea about what could have happened. About what could have been different. I always loved the dynamic between the Donovan siblings, and we definitely didn't get enough of them.. **

**KTF CLM **

03.09.1999, The Badlands of South Dakota. 7:30 am.

Arthur Nielsen suspiciously looked at the case file in front of him. Just a couple of weeks ago he'd become the Warehouse's new Special Agent In Charge. Currently he was the only Agent at this place. Mrs. Frederic had told him that she was waiting for the right people to recruit for him.

Artie highly doubted that she'd find someone that he could work with. Since his first partner had betrayed them he rarely trusted anybody. So how should he work with a bunch of strangers? No, Artie definitely didn't have the time to give some annoying kids the grand tour around his house. He couldn't work with people he didn't trust. And he didn't trust people that he didn't know. And he wasn't exactly interested in getting to know someone. Except maybe...

Last week they hired an ex-agent to become the new Warehouse-Doctor. Her name was Dr. Vanessa Calder. The blonde woman was barely younger than him. She was smart and she had a healthy sense for humor as well as adventure. Vanessa had started at the Warehouse in her twenties, so he didn't need long to trust her. The grumpy agent even found himself admitting that she was quite pretty. He'd even call her beautiful.

Nielsen shook his head at the thought. It had been a long time since he had shown this kind of interest in a woman. And the last time it ended bad.

Suddenly memories were flooding his mind. He had indeed loved Carol Augustine. And so had his former partner, James MacPherson.

James was more than a co-worker to him. He was his best friend. They were almost like brothers.

When James had started to tell him about all the things that they could change in this world, if they'd just break a few rules, Artie was amused. He thought it was a joke.

And when he saw that just friend was serious, he thought it was just a harmless little game. Later, he actually considered the idea.

He started, like James, to see the positive effects that this endless wonder could cause in the world. They could bring rain to the deserts. They could bring food to the poor. They could give a home to the homeless. They could end a war.

But James started to forget about the bad sides. That with saving a single person, he could kill a whole nation. That with ending one civil war, he could cause a world war. He always said he could control it, but Artie knew that he couldn't.

And that's what he told his partner.

That it was insane. That he had to stop before it got out of their control. But by that point, it was already too late.

Deep in his thoughts, he didn't realize the woman that had appeared behind him out of nowhere.

"I believe you should focus on the task at hand, Arthur."

The man jumped and turned around. "Mrs. Frederic. I...". How did she always do that? He cleared his throat and nodded.

"Of course. I got an alert for possible artifact activity in Minnesota. It said that a woman had strange outbursts. The people say she...", he looked back down to the file and quoted: "She threw objects around with her mind. Some witnesses described her as a 'human tornado'.".

The woman nodded in understanding. "I think we should pay her a visit as soon as possible. I don't know what artifact is causing this, but I've got a bad feeling about this.".

Now the Caretaker got him worried. She was working here far longer than anyone living could know. If such an experienced agent said she was worried, then it had to mean that there was a good reason to be worried. Something about this case was different. He just didn't knew what it was. Not yet anyway.

05.09.1999, Minnesota. 1:15 pm.

Artie stopped his dear El Camino in front of the suspects house. When the man took a look at the front yard of the building, his eyes widened.

There was a yard sale set up. A few people were searching through the objects, not having a clue that one of these innocent looking things could hurt them in any way.

The man looked over to his temporary partner. That was a sight that worried him even more. The woman's eyes were glued to one single point of the yard. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

But all Artie could find when he followed her gaze were two young girls. A redhead in her mid-teens and an even younger brunette, probably her younger sister. It seemed like they were arguing about something.

Or at least the little one. She kept shooting the object in her sisters hands a worried look. It was almost as if the girl was afraid something would jump out of the box and hurt them.

But the thing the sisters seemed so interested in wasn't even like a Jack InThe Box, no. It looked like a music box. A very old music box.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but when his eyes landed back on the woman, it seemed like she was in a trance.

He cleared his throat. "Mrs. Frederic? Are... are you alright?".

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him.

"Do you think it's the box?", he asked quietly.

She nodded. " that's not what worries me the most at this scene... the girl, the younger one. It's like... it feels like I should recognize her. As if she was important.".

Nielsen studied the picture in front of him. It was rare that just boss said So many words at once. And it was even more rare that she sounded scared. But she did. But she definitely wasn't scared of the kid. It was like she was scared for her.

Turning back around he saw that the girls left the sale, the box clutched close to the older ones chest. As soon as the girls reached the next corner he started the car.

He drove to the corner to see where they were going. The teenager didn't even seem to notice them. But the brunette suddenly stopped and turned around.

The redhead turned to her and shook her head. Arthur heard his co-worker for the day reading the sisters lips out loud.

"What is it now, Dia? We don't have time for your paranoid little ghosts right now. We have to be at home to dinner.".

"I'm not seeing ghosts, Claire! I'm serious! I don't have imaginary friends anymore, I'm seven years old!".

Neither of the agents could help the small smiles that appeared on their faces. The girls took a turn into the driveway of one of the pretty houses. Artie could see how Mrs. Frederic pulled out a note book and wrote the address down on the paper.

Suddenly the woman got out of the car. Nielsen followed her example. But when he stood outside of the car, she had already disappeared into thin air. He shook his head and got back in.

One day he would finally find out how she did this.


	2. A Backstory And A Crazy Little Sister

**A/N: KNOCK KNOCK**

** And here comes the second chapter. At the moment this story is way easier to write than my are two possible crossover characters mentioned. I wanted to give myself a little for room for ideas. Let me know if you find them. **

**Without too many more comments from me, I hope you like it. Feedback is always helpful. **

**KTF CLM **

02.09.1999, Minnesota. 1:30 pm.

It couldn't have been longer than five minutes till Mrs. Frederic appeared beside Agent Nielsen again. She took a deep breath in, letting Arthur know that she had a lot to tell him.

"Apparently this is the house of the Donovans. The father, Johnathan Donovan, once was a soldier. After the birth of his first child he settled down here. Today he's a physicist. I couldn't get much information about his work. It seems he's working on some kind of secret project. I suppose he's still working for the military."

"He's got a brother, Zachary. Zachary Donovan seems to be the black sheep of the family. Nothing interesting other than that they're not in contact anymore. His brother is married and he has a son, Zane Donovan. Smart boy. 17 years old."

"Johnathan's wife is Catherine Donovan, born Jones. She seems to be an independent woman. One of the rare female lawyers these days. She's got a brother and two sisters. Well, she had. Her youngest sister Bethany died from cancer at young age. Her older sister Rachel is a dance teacher in New York City. Her only brother Michael is married and has four kids. Two boys, David and Jacob. And two girls, Janelle and Felicia.".

"Catherine and Johnathan have three children. The oldest is Joshua Donovan. He's 18 and just started college. He's studying physics, like his father. A very bright boy. The two we just watched here were Claire and Claudia Donovan. Claire is 15. She's a good student. Never any complications. Not with grades, not with teachers or other students. She's taking dancing lessons twice a week and guitar and piano lessons once a week. Nothing out of the ordinary"

"Claudia Donovan is 7 years old, like she already reminded her sister. It seems she's at least as smart as her brother is. She skipped the second grade. So she's already in the fourth grade. The youngest, and still the smarted of the class. Just like her sister she's taking dancing, piano and guitar lessons. Dancing every second Friday, piano every Thursday, and guitar every Tuesday. They're a pretty busy family. I couldn't find anything about the music box tough. I'm not even sure if it's the artifact. I felt an energy from it, but it's interfering with... "

Nielsen tried to take in everything he just found out when he noticed that she stopped mid sentence. The girl seemingly always carried her thoughts away. At least he was pretty sure it was her fault. No, not her fault. But what was so different about the little brunette that it bothered the woman so much?

05.09.1999, Minnesota, The Donovan Household. 6:45 pm.

Claire Donovan sat on her bed and inspected what had become her favorite object on earth within seconds. The beautiful wooden box with the letters FF at the front. She couldn't spend hours just looking at the ballerina on the inside. Claire couldn't get her out of her head anymore.

The teen quickly noticed that the box was special. She didn't know why, but she just couldn't leave it alone. She had to buy it. She had to take it with her wherever she went. Every night before she went to sleep she just had to listen to the sweet melodies that the innocent looking box offered when it was opened.

It nearly hurt her every time she closed it or she was too far away from it. It was a part of her now. It was as if it helped her to live. It made breathing easier. It made worries and fears go away. Well, hers anyway.

Her little sister kept telling her that she didn't like the box. That Claire was obsessed with it. With this beautiful piece of art that was playing the most amazing tune that she'd ever heard. Of course she loved it how couldn't she?

It was the best thing that ever...

"Claire? Clary it's me. Can I come in? You locked the door."

The redhead shot the door an annoyed glare, angry that she was distracted from her thoughts.

"I know what I did, Dia.". She sighed and stood up to open the door. "Wait. I'm coming.". She cautiously placed the box on her desk.

When Claudia walked into the room she immediately spotted the strange object. It made her nervous. Ever since Claire bought it, she felt watched around it. She wouldn't even be all that surprised if it would explode any minute. It was like it sent her signals. A shiver ran down the girl's spine.

When the older sister saw what Claudia was looking at, and the way she looked at it, she took a step forward, placing herself between her sister and her beloved music box.

"What is it, Claudia? I'm busy.".

The brunette looked directly into her eyes now. Claire had changed so much since three days ago. Since she had this scary box.

Just last week Claire would have welcomed her with open arms. She would teach her how to play the guitar, because Claudia liked her way more than her teacher. And she would tell her the most amazing stories. Claudia knew that half of it was just imagination, but it didn't matter to her. Right now she just wanted her big sister back.

"Really Clary, what's the deal with that scary thing? I don't get it. I've got a bad feeling from this one."

"Oh, let me guess you're one of those freaks with the glass balls now?"

"They're called fortune tellers and they're using crystal balls. And no, I'm not. These are ridiculous! I don't need some special gift to tell you that this box has a negative effect on you! Mom and Dad don't like it either."

"You're lying! You always are! You're just a kid! You have no idea what you're talking about!"

These words tore Claudia's heart apart. Claire had always been the only one who really understood her. She knew that Claudia wasn't just some random child. That she was wise beyond her years. Claire had said so herself.

Suddenly she saw something flying across the room. She looked to the ground beside her. There lay a bracelet, now with all of the pearls sprawled across the floor. It had missed the girl by less than three inches.

She remembered this bracelet. It had belonged to their grandmother. Catherine had given it to Claire last Christmas.

Claudia turned to her sister. The redhead had stopped mid-air while driving her hands through her hair. Her eyes were widened in shock.

Claudia made a fast decision and ran out of the room. When Claire noticed what she was doing the brunette was already down the stairs.

"Mom! The box is bad! It makes Claire mad!", she screamed once she reached the living room.

"That's not true! I don't know what her problem is lately!"

Cat glanced from one of her daughters to the others. She was used to arguments like that between Claire and Joshua, but did Claudia really have to fill in for her brother now?

"Alright, what happened?", she asked patiently.

"Claire was angry and then grandma's pearl bracelet flew across the room! It was just lying on the desk beside the stupid box! We didn't even touch it!"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Claudia, darling, I love you're blooming imagination but it's not a good time for this hon'. Claire?". She turned to look at the redhead.

"I'm so sorry Mom. I practiced for dancing class and I forgot to put it off before."

Claudia stepped between her sister and her mother.

"No, Mom she's lying! I'm not imagining this! I know what I saw! I'm not just a naive kid! Mom, please, you gotta believe me! I... I know that there's no Santa! That was Dad! I found that out when I was four! And I know that you're the one whose exchanging the teeth under my pillow for money! And Claire and Josh are hiding the Easter eggs every year! I know all of that! Please, I'd rather you stop playing Santa and Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny! You can stop all of that if you want to! Just believe me now!"

Claire nervously glanced back and forth between them. She tried to see if her mother actually believed Claudia. She didn't want her sister to look crazy. But she couldn't risk that they'd take away the music box.

Cat looked the girl directly in the brown eyes. She never knew that her youngest had already figured out all of that. Probably she didn't want to risk her Easter egg hunts or Christmas presents. But know she put all of that on the line just to get rid of a wooden box?

The blonde cautiously reached forward to put a hand on Claudia's forehead.

Now Claudia was mad. She had told her all of that and she still didn't believe her?

The brunette pushed her mother's hand away and ran upstairs to her room. She threw the door closed and locked it.

Claire silently let out a relieved breath. When her mother sent her a questioning glance she just shrugged. Then she turned away to go back upstairs. Back to her beloved box.


	3. Out Of Control

**A/N: KNOCK, KNOCK. I'm pretty inspired at the moment. I love writing this story, and I hope that you like reading it. Feedback is always welcome. KTF CLM **

08.09.1999, Minnesota. The Donovan Household.

Joshua Donovan had just wanted to go home over the weekend. His parents were going to be at some kind of scientist meeting for three days. Usually he would have loved to accompany them there rather than to babysit his sisters. But he hadn't seen Claudia and Claire for a few months and they told him that everything was a bit tense between the sisters right now.

That was really new to him. Usually he had to deal with both of them against him. They always stood in for each other. Claudia and Claire were unstoppable together. Sometimes he even wondered if it was healthy how close they were. Claudia had turned into a miniature version of Claire. She had even said that she wanted to color her hair red.

Of course their parents had told her she could do that. In eight years. But Claudia, being her stubborn Donovan-ish self, kept asking every week.

And with her puppy dog eyes, Josh wouldn't be surprised if she was already a fiery redhead to her tenth birthday. There is no second person on earth who had pleading and begging skills like Claudia's. That's what he hated her for, and that's what he loved her for.

He got out of the car when it stopped in front of his parents' home. He had taken a taxi cab since he didn't have an own car yet. He already had a drivers license, but he wanted to keep his money till he had enough for the perfect car. And to finish his education. Cat and John had offered him to pay for it, but Joshua Donovan was a man of pride. Well, an eighteen-year old with pride. Maybe sometimes a bit too much. His mother said that John was just like that when he was younger.

He reached the door just when it swung open and his father came outside. "Joshua, thank god! We'll already be late. Cathy!", John shouted while he was all at once fixing his tie, straightening his suit and looking at the expansive watch around his wrist.

"Josh!"

The boy grinned when he saw his youngest sister bolting down the stairs. She always took at least two steps at once. He walked into her direction and caught her before she could even reach the floor.

He held her back close to his chest and turned himself in circles, making her legs fly in the air in the process.

The little brunette screamed in joy. Soon the screaming turned into laughing. That seemingly gave him an idea, because he stopped swirling her around and started tickling her instead.

He softly set her down on ground when he saw how Claire slowly made her way down the stairs. He sent the older one of his two younger sisters a reassuring smile. She seemed a bit far away today.

She hesitantly smiled back and stuffed her hands into the back pockets of her dark blue skinny jeans. She stepped in front of her brother and looked to the ground. She had a guilty expression on her face.

Joshua made a fast decision and slung his arms around his redheaded sister. At first she jumped at his sudden movement, then she put her left hand onto his left shoulder blade. Her right hand followed soon afterwards. She buried her face in her brothers chest.

Catherine came down the stairs and smiled softly at the image in front of her. She quietly walked past them, gave Claudia a quick kiss on the top of her head, and grabbed her husband's hand to pull him to the car.

John waved his youngest goodbye and followed his wife back outside. Claudia smiled. That's how it was meant to be. It was all so peaceful right now. Thanks to Joshua. He always seemed to know what to do to calm his sisters down. At least to a point where no one had to hope that he'll still be alive tomorrow.

Joshua loosened his grip on Claire and she slowly pulled away. The redhead took a deep breath in. She didn't know how much of Claudia's ideas about her music box he knew about. Or how much of it he'd believe at all. But she didn't want to give him the chance to ask.

"So, how have you been big brother? Any news from college?"

"I'm good. Nothing that would be interesting for you there. I've got a couple of complicated science classes, not that that would be a problem for me. There are already a few professors who think I'd make a good scientist one day. Other than that it's...well, it's college."

Claire nodded, but stayed silent. So Claudia decided to take over.

"That's awesome Josh! I think you'll be a great physicist! Just like Dad."

Her brother smiled brightly. "Thanks Dia. You know, from you it means even more to me than from them!"

Now Claudia grinned proudly. "Well, of course! I bet I'm smarter than most of them anyway."

"I bet. So... how're you two? Anything new?"

"No.", Claire said blankly. She really didn't want to talk about this now.

Claudia shot her sister a slightly dark look. The girl had missed her brother so much that she'd been jumping around the house all day since she found out about his visit.

She really didn't need Claire to kill the mood now. Of course she had wondered if she could talk Josh into bringing the damn box away. But he just came here. This wasn't the moment for a conversation like this.

But their brother had already noticed the cold way the sisters seemed to treat each other with. And he wasn't willing to spend a whole weekend with two girls who're watching one another as if they were plotting the fasted way to get rid of the other one.

"Alright, listen. Mom said that there was some kind of sister war between the two of you. Apparently about some kind of antiquity Claire brought home..."

"It's not just some stupid antiquity! It's a beautiful wooden music box. If you ask me, Claudia's just jealous so she's thinking of a way to take it from me!", Claire became angrier with every word that left her lips.

"You're right! It's not just an antiquity. It's changing you Claire! It's driving you mad! I'm just trying to get my sister back!", Claudia shot back, half angry, half desperate.

"I am right here! But you don't care! None of you do! The box gives me my peace! It's calming me! This object understands me better than any human being ever could!"

Claire angrily balled her fists and screamed. Claudia could swear that her sister's feet were an inch above the floor for a moment.

Suddenly things were falling to the ground like there was an earthquake. The lamp fell from the ceiling. A glass vase with tulips fell onto the carpet. Some pictures fell from the wall.

Joshua could just stand there in shock while Claudia had come to hide behind him, holding onto the back of his shirt for dear life.

He thought he could see Claire's eyes glowing for a second. Now he understood what Claudia meant.

The attack stopped as unexpected as it started. For a minute they all just stood there. The redhead looked around the room, not able to believe that she did that. She caused this chaos. And from what she could see, she scared her siblings like hell.

She turned around and ran upstairs to her room. Once she was inside she locked the door and threw herself onto her bed. The teen grabbed a pillow and pressed it to her chest. This couldn't be because of her precious treasure! It just couldn't! But she had no other explanation. Claire buried her face into the pillow and began to sob.

Meanwhile downstairs Joshua had excused himself and went to the kitchen. Claudia waited a moment before she followed him. She didn't want to be alone now and she wanted to know what he was doing.

She saw how he picked up the phone. He didn't notice her in the doorway yet so she stepped aside so she could hide behind the wall. The girl doubted he wanted her to hear anything from this call.

Her older brothers next words sent a shiver down her spine.

"Mom? Yes. It's Josh. You were right. Something is definitely out of control here. But I can assure you it's not Claudia's imagination. Mom... it's Claire."


	4. A Decision

**A/N: KNOCK KNOCK. Alright, I've been offline for awhile cause I've got a pretty full schedule here right now. But I'll keep on trying to update as often as I can. Also: I love it that people are reading, favoriting and following this. But a comment in between would be nice. Tell me what what you like about it? What I could do better?**

**This kind of takes place after the scene in Claire's school that Artie showed Claudia in Secret Services. **

**KTF CLM **

11.09.1999, Minnesota, Claire's High School.

Artie was officially exhausted and annoyed by this case. He was sorry for the girl and her family but he didn't know what to do anymore. He couldn't just walk in there and take the artifact. He had to admit, after what he'd seen today he was scared of the redhead.

The whole class room lay in chaos now. The students were anxious and the teacher was traumatized. And it seemed so was Claire.

He wasn't sure how much she remembered from what she did while she had her outburst. He didn't even know if it was her first accident of this kind. A telekinesis attack wasn't exactly a case for the local police or a doctor. Not a normal one at least. For Vanessa maybe.

Artie sighed. His thoughts kept finding the corner in his mind where he tried to hide his growing feelings for the Warehouse-Doctor. But he had other things to worry about right now.

Like the telekinetic teen tornado that was now leaving the building with her parents. Her father had an arm around her and softly stroke her shoulder.

Her mother walked in front of them. It was clear to the agents in the car that Catherine didn't want her daughter to see her expression right now.

The blonde looked stressed, exhausted, confused. She seemed to be switching moods between sad, angry and scared.

Understandable, considering what her family was going through. Other parents get called to the school because their kids said words they shouldn't have. Or because a conflict got out of control. Or because of food fights, graffiti pictures or smaller crimes like stealing a pen.

But not because their usually so peaceful, nice daughter accidentally nearly killed a dozen students and destroyed a whole class room with her thoughts simply because someone pulled the trigger on her nerves and made her angry.

At the beginning they we're worried that Claudia had too much fantasy, but after what Joshua told them they regretted that they didn't believe her. Somehow the youngest of the siblings knew what was going to happen.

Except of course that she was convinced that a wooden antiquity was the reason for all of this. Because really, that was ridiculous. Right?

Frederic and Nielsen watched the three of them as they got into the car. After they drove away the Warehouse-Employees got out of Artie's El Camino and walked towards the school building.

They decided to pay the crime scene a visit before they would go back to their research about Claire and her favourite killer weapon.

They knew that she never wanted to hurt anybody. But that's exactly what she'd do if they wouldn't stop her. Artie just hoped they would be fast enough.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?"

Arthur and Irene turned around in the middle of an aisle to see the man who had just spoken. Tall, athletic, in his later thirties, a few bright blonde hairs on his head. Probably a PE teacher or a sports coach.

"Arthur?", Mrs Frederic asked calmly. The other agent nodded.

She turned to go into the class room that was just a few steps away now. An action that the coach totally disliked.

"Hey! Wait! Who are you?"

Artie presented the stranger his best fake grin.

"You don't have to worry about us."

He pulled his Tesla gun out of his bag.

"Wait, what's that?"

Before the guy knew what was happening Artie had already pulled the trigger and the coach fell to the ground.

"Nice dreams."

When he turned around Irene already came back. Her expression rarely said anything about what the woman found or didn't find. So Nielsen decided to ask.

"Did you find anything helpful?"

"Just this.", she replied and showed him a piece of paper. The only thing that was written on it were two simple letters. FF.

11.09.1999, The Donovan Household.

Claire sat in her room. She didn't know what to do. She could barely remember what she had done. But this time someone could've died. The redhead could have killed somebody and she couldn't have done anything about it.

She thought she had this under control. But now even the few memories she had from her actions at school today scared her like nothing else ever did.

The idea that she could have killed a person gave her the chills. She felt like a monster. Why did it have to be her? Claire was afraid of how people would react if they found out about this.

She was sorry that she had shown off her little sister as crazy just so they would leave her box alone. The wooden treasure had become a part of herself. And by now even that thought creeped her out.

She decided that she should at least apologize to her parents. The teen stood up and went downstairs.

Claudia was sitting at the desk in her room, deep in her thoughts about what little her brother had told her about his tasks in college, when she heard Claire's door open and close. That was followed by the noise of someone walking down the stairs.

They brunette knew that this could be her only chance. She had been waiting for her sister to leave the box out of her sight for a moment.

The girl quietly made her ways into the redhead's room and spotted the object she had been looking for on her sister's bed. She quickly rushed forward and grabbed the box from the pillow.

Grinning she held the antiquity close to her small chest and walked back into her own room, locking the door behind her.

She considered a couple of places to hide it before she decided to simply put it under her bed. She walked over to a corner if her room and pulled a couple of crates towards the bed. Then she pushed the crates underneath the bed. Now it would take long enough for Claire to find and get this stupid piece of wood. Hopefully she'd never get so close to this thing again.

Meanwhile downstairs Claire stopped mid-way to the living room when she overheard a conversation between her parents.

"John, I don't like that idea either. But what if something like today happens again?"

"We can't just lock our daughter up somewhere! That's not a solution!"

"I know. And it's only temporary. Only till we know how to help her."

"We haven't even tried to help her yet!"

"She can't stay here! I love her as much as you do, but we can't pretend this is all perfectly normal!"

"I know it's not, Cat. But we have to think about her too."

"I am, John! That's why I'm doing this. I want this for her."

Claire's heart was beating a marathon. They wouldn't send her away, would they?

Her father sighed. "I guess you're right. But not longer than absolutely necessary!"

As his words sank in the redhead felt like she forgot how to breathe. She turned around and ran back into her room, only to find the one thing that could calm her now missing.


	5. The End And The Beginning

**A/N: KNOCK KNOCK. I finally convinced myself to post this. Sorry that it took me so long. I'm pretty stressed, but I'll try to update more often. The positive side? This is the longest chapter of this story so far. **

**Warnings for this chapter: It's based on the car crash scene in "A Faire To Remember" to the end. I'd tell you more, but I wouldn't want to give you any more spoilers. **

**There's a crossover reference for a character I already mentioned. You'll properly meet her soon. **

**Other than that? Thanks to everyone who's reading, favoriting (I don't care if that word exists or not)and/or following. Comments, questions and requests always welcome. **

**KTF CLM **

12.09.1999, The Donovan Household

Artie and Irene were, once again, sitting in a car in front of the house that was currently gifted with a fifteen-year old ticking tornado bomb.

From what they'd seen, Claire's attacks became stronger every day. But since yesterday the girl seemed nervous when they saw her leaving the house. The last time they had seen her at all was yesterday afternoon. Since then neither one of them had even seen her through a window.

But from their behavior the chances were good that by now the whole family knew about her outbursts. Oddly enough, the seven-year old little sister seemed to be the most calm of these four.

Claudia was actually the only one who'd left the house today. To check the mail. She'd even casually chatted with a neighbor. Mrs. Miller from across the street had talked about the weather and politics with the girl, as if she was a normal grown up part of their neighborhood.

But even though they'd talked about the weather, no one mentioned the tornado that was right inside the building behind them.

It was more than likely that they didn't know what was going on. Not Mrs. Miller from across the street, not Mr. and Mrs. Green from London who were living exactly to the Donovan's left, and not the New Yorker single mother Ms. Jennings to their right or her son Adrian.

When Claudia walked back into the house Ms. Jennings looked over to her and shouted her name.

"Claudia, honey. Your sister looked a bit down yesterday. Are you all alright?"

"It's fine, Ms. Jennings. Clary and Dad just caught a cold and Mom and I are staying at home to take care of them. I hope you and Adri are alright?"

"Oh, we're fine. It's really sweet from you to take care of the family. I can only repeat myself. You're already like a little adult.", the blonde woman answered with a grin on her face. "And thanks again for helping Adrian with his math homework. I don't understand a single word from this stuff.".

Claudia grinned back. "That could be because math is about numbers, not words. Have a good day. And if you should need help with numbers again or your computer is giving up like last week, let me know.

The honey blonde laughed. "Alright, Claudia. Blessings to your Dad and Claire."

The tiny brunette smiled and waved her neighbor goodbye.

Irene found the scene quite interesting. This seven year old actually seemed to be quite a grown up for her age. And the whole neighborhood knew that. She was teaching the kids math, she was chatting about the weather and political events, she was even fixing their technological devices.

Everyone could see that the girl was living here like she was already in her twenties. She had to be quite something if she was respected like that.

The dark skinned woman didn't know why, but she felt proud of the girl and she had a feeling that she wouldn't just see her on this one case.

Meanwhile Claudia went back inside and it was like someone turned a switch. Suddenly the all grown up seven year old was a nervous young girl. She was pacing over the floor like it was made out of ice. As fast as possible, but as silent and gracious like a cat.

She'd been in the theater club at school for two years now. The teacher had told her she was a natural. Last year they had convinced her to play Juliet. She didn't have anything against Shakespeare, she just didn't think of herself as a character like Juliet. And the dress they made her wear for this...

But now wasn't the time to complain about this. In fact, the brunette was grateful for the training it gave her. Cat had told her to be careful when she left the house. The neighbors shouldn't know what was behind these walls right now.

Her Mom had only sent her because she always went to get the mail. Usually, she insisted on it. It made her feel like an adult.

At an age where others watched cartoons and read comics, she was watching political debates and she was either reading science books or Wells.

She loved sciene fiction. And who could write better science fiction than the genre's so-called father? Right now she was in the first book of The War Of Worlds. The girl had to admit that one of her favorite things about the writer was that he was thinking outside of the box. His works could bring her into other dimensions.

Not that she had something against comics. She was actually quite a fan of what her brother had left for her when he went to college.

Her brother's favorites seemed to be The X-Men and The Fantastic Four. They'd seen a couple of movies together too.

The most recent one was the first X-Men movie. Josh had started calling Claudia Little Rogue afterwards, because she wasn't exactly known as a social kid. To be fair, except for her teachers and parents, it was rare that someone ever called her kid.

She was however known as a little runaway. Whenever she didn't like the situation at home, she'd look for another place to stay. Her parents weren't too thrilled by that fact, but the worries had become less and less over the past two years.

Usually she was just next-door with a neighbor. Just one time she'd actually taken a train to her uncle's and aunt's house about two hours from here. They had four kids. The twins David and Jacob were one year younger than Joshua. The youngest, Felicia, was three years younger than Claudia. But her favorite cousin was without question Nell. Janelle Jones was just a year older than Claudia. They were like sisters. Once they were in the same neighborhood, they were inseparable.

Her eyes fell to the plastic claws on the dresser in the small main hall of their house. They were for her brother's Halloween costume, Josh and Clary were both a bit too old for trick and treat tours, but they had decided that the tradition should live on for Claudia.

Josh wanted to be Wolverine. What Claudia wasn't sure was fitting, especially since Clary started calling dibs on Jean Grey. They had a lot of smaller arguments about this until Claire decided that she'd wasted enough of her time. But in the end, for Claudia's sake, Joshua had been the one to give in. Till Claudia had puppy-dog-eyed them into staying with their first choices.

Claire had already bought Claudia a thick white hair streak for her Rogue costume. It was in a set with a dark blue one, a neon green one, a purple one and a dark red one. Claudia had been wearing those at school since she got them. All except the white one. That one was reserved for Halloween.

Claire liked Josh's and Dia's taste, but they were a bit too passionate about this for her liking. She was more into music. Garbage was her favorite band ever. 'When I Grow Up' was the first song that she taught Claudia to play on the guitar.

But lately the only music the redhead was interested in was the melody of her music box.

Claudia shot a glance to the stairs. Her sister hadn't come down since last evening. Not since Claudia had taken the box. It made her nervous. She'd wanted to make things right again. And now Claire was alone, locked up in her room. That definitely wasn't Claudia's definition of right.

Suddenly she heard steps from upstairs and her sister appeared on the stairs. With a large bag slung over her left shoulder.

"Claire? What are you doing?"

She knew this scene. Usually she was in Claire's position. But she had a feeling the teenager wouldn't stop her journey at a neighbors door.

Claire had a haunted look in her eyes.

"Mom and Dad are sending me away! And if I have to go, I want to choose the destination myself!"

She bend down to give her little sister a quick hug and a kiss on her dark brown hair.

"We'll meet again, okay? One day we'll sing together again. I promise, alright Dia? I promise. And a Donovan keeps her promises!"

Now she was looking her younger sister straight into the eyes.

"I love you, little sister. Please never forget that."

Claire gave the girl a last kiss on her head and then she turned to the door. She walked outside and there was nothing Claudia could do. She was frozen. Paralyzed. Terrified.

Claire couldn't leave. She couldn't leave their parents, their house, their neighborhood. She couldn't leave her.

Joshua had just left a few months ago and that already hurt the girl. But her brother was coming to visit as often as he could. Her sister wouldn't.

That's when her parents came from the kitchen. Catherine had a smile on her face. "Claire? I heard you coming down, darling. How..."

Her expression immediately fell when she noticed that Claudia was alone in the room. And she didn't look lucky

"Dia? What happened? Where's Clary?"

No answer. Now John spoke up.

"Claudia? Are you alright?"

The girls widened big brown eyes fell to the door.

And now they knew it. Claire was running away. But she couldn't be far away just yet.

Cat ran outside and saw Claire hurriedly leaving the driveway.

"Claire! Come back! Wait!"

John followed his wife outside and as soon as he spotted his oldest daughter he too started shouting.

"Clary, where do you want to go?"

"Away!"

"Why?"

"Cause you and Mom don't want me here anymore!"

John's eyes went wide in shock. She must've overheard their conversation yesterday. It seemed Cat had the same thought.

"That's not true! We're trying to help you!"

"No you're not! You'll lock me up! You said so yourself!"

Suddenly Claire gasped. She could barely breath and she felt herself rising from the teen turned into a human tornado. This time it was worse than ever before. Her feet were more than ten inches above the ground. Her eyes were glowing in a ghostly white. The air around her turned into a dark cloud.

The smaller trees that stood close to the redhead were slowly ripped apart. The late summer leaves were flying through the air around her like it was the thunderstorm of the decade.

John and Cat could just stand in the middle of their front yard, unable to move.

It wasn't until he saw the mailbox flying into their direction that John snapped out of his state of shock. The car was closer than the house.

He quickly took his car keys from the pocket of his blue jeans, ran to the car and unlocked the passenger side. "Catherine!"

Seeing that his wife still didn't move, he ran back faster than he ever thought he could. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to the car. He sat in the passenger seat and pulled her in.

When Catherine knew what happened she was already sitting on her husband's lap. After a few seconds she stared at him in horror.

"John, what about Claudia? We can't drive away without her!"

He was already halfway to the driver's seat. He looked back at his wife and hesitated. Just a second too long.

He heard Catherine's horrified scream. He felt how the car moved. And the last thing he saw was a tree.

In the next moment everything was black.

Artie and Irene saw all of that from the other side of the street.

The terrified parents. The teenager that had turned into a dangerous weapon without even actually noticing it. The horrific multiple impact.

The car had crashed into the tree four times, ten feet above the ground. Afterwards it just fell down. And so did Claire.

The car had a total damage. The door to the driver's seat had fallen out. All of the windows were shattered into pieces. The roof had come down to the heads of the couple.

Both of them had scratches and bruises all over their faces and were covered in their own blood. His left arm was bend into an odd angle.

All that was just what they could see from they're point of view from across the street. It was impossible to survive a crash like that. Most likely, both of them were dead on impact.

That was the first thing the agents noticed. The second one was the redheaded girl on the ground. Artie jumped out of the car and ran over to her. He held two fingers against her inner wrist, then above her collarbone. "She's alive!"

Irene got out of the car and walked towards them, her phone against her ear. But then she already heard the sirens of an ambulance before she had even dialed the number.

Her eyes wandered to the door, and there she stood. With a phone in her hand and the terror written all over her face. She was shaking and there were tears rolling down her pale cheeks. And her big brown eyes were wide in horror.

The witness of her own parents' death:

Claudia Donovan.


	6. What's To Come

**A/N: KNOCK KNOCK. Here you go dear readers. This chapter is mostly about Claudia's thoughts the day she was orphaned. And in the end, I'll introduce my special guest. She'll play a great role in later chapters. As always, reviews, comments, questions and polite criticism are highly appreciated. **

**KTF㈎2 CLM **

12.09.1999, The Donovan Household

Now here she was. She could feel the strange woman's eyes on her. She could see the man beside her sister. She couldn't see her parents, because the car stood with the back to her.

But she could see her sister. Lying in the grass. Her light red hair was a mess. Her dark red jacket was halfway down her pale arms. She could see a couple of scratches on her shoulders and upper arms. Her dark blue skinny jeans was covered in dirt. Her favorite blue top had a couple of wholes, revealing nearly half of her stomach. There was blood. Not a lot, but it was enough to scare the little girl.

Suddenly Claudia noticed that the dark skinned woman was now standing right beside her. She was holding her hand out to the girl.

Claudia slowly turned her head to look her into the eyes.

The woman's eyes looked friendly. Pitiful. Worried.

The girl's eyes looked scared. Swollen. Lost.

Sighing, the woman pulled her hand back. Claudia's hands hadn't moved the slightest bit. In her right hand, she still held the phone. Her left hand was balled into a weak fist.

The woman reached forward to take the telephone. Claudia didn't have the strength to stop her. The stranger placed the device on the ground beside her. She tried to sent the girl a reassuring smile.

"Hello. You're Claudia, right? I'm Irene."

She held her hand out again, but Claudia didn't move.

She just turned her head back into Claire's direction.

Irene pulled her hand back and straightened her back again. She doubted the girl would be talking to her anytime soon. And suddenly she did.

"They're dead, aren't they?"

They both turned to look at each other again. Seeing the surprised expression on the stranger's face, Claudia decided to try it again. She had to know.

"Mom and Dad I mean. The man said Clary is alive. But our parents aren't?"

The last part was half question, half statement.

She knew it. But she had to hear it.

"I'm sorry, Claudia."

She was right. She heard enough.

That's when the ambulance arrived.

Claudia heard the sirens, saw the lights.

She heard the voices, saw the people.

The realization began to sink in.

Her parents were dead. Both of them.

Her sister was hurt. Badly.

She was an orphan now. And so were Joshua and Claire.

Joshua. Somebody would have to tell him.

He would be broken. She knew him.

He would come back to take care. Take care of his younger sisters.

He would never be able to finish college. He wouldn't care.

For him, all that would matter were her and Claire.

It would ruin his entire life. His future. Or what could have been his future.

And Claire's future? What if she wouldn't make it?

She couldn't lose her too. Her world was shattered into pieces.

And now more then ever, she needed her older siblings to hold these pieces together.

It would all fall apart.

She was a smart kid. She knew that her parents were lost. Forever.

She knew what death meant. Their grandpa had died last year. He had left a broken family behind. The worst of all, his wife. Claudia hadn't seen her grandmother for seven month after the funeral.

Catherine had allowed them to stay at home for a week. From the three of them, it was the worst for Claire. She'd been grandpa's little girl.

And if their grandfather's death already brought her down so much, how low would she sink once she found out that their parents were dead?

And what would she do when she discovered how they died? Would she remember any of this at all?

Would she wake up again? Would she want to?

Claudia had never felt so lost and alone before. She didn't know what to do. Who to trust. Where to go.

Meanwhile the wheels in Irene's head were working long hours in minutes. The girl wasn't just some kid. She needed someone to talk to. Someone who spoke her language. Someone who understood her loss. Someone who could pay for her brother's education. Someone who would look after her without underestimating her.

That's when it hit her. She knew the perfect person for this. She never met her, but she'd read all the files. The woman was a living legend at the Warehouse.

A very long time had passed since said legend had moved even the slightest inch. Everybody knew about her. But nobody knew her.

Given her history and abilities there was no one alive who could possibly be more fitting for Claudia and her siblings.

Irene heard that she was driven insane by her seven-year old daughter's murder. That she killed for her kid. But she couldn't save her. That chance was long over.

But now there was another one. A girl, around her daughter's age. Just as intelligent and beautiful.

But first things first. She walked over to Arthur with a forceful pace.

"Agent Nielsen? Tell them I want Claire to be moved to a hospital in Featherhead as soon as possible. And if I have to carry her there with my own two hands, understood?"

Artie glared at her in irritation for a moment, then he nodded. "Understood."

The agent couldn't quite follow his bosses way of thought. Did she actually plan on bringing the children to South Dakota with them?

To leave him, Arthur Nielsen, originally Weisfelt, alone with a bunch of minor orphans? They had just lost their parents. How was he even supposed to know how to talk to these kind of people?

12.09.1999, An hour later at a Regent Meeting

"Are you sure about this, Irene?", Adwin Kosan had heard a lot of ideas from this woman over the years. Some of them could have been his own, and some of them broke a thousand rules at once.

But she had never been wrong. Every time they didn't at least try to do what she proposed, they'd regret it later. But this time she went over her own edges. He would never say it that way out loud, but he believed she was losing her mind right now.

"I think the idea isn't too bad either, Adwin. It would give the kids a new home. And it would give her a new chance."

Jane Lattimer had always been the one of them who tried to help the agents' families. She had to deal with similar issues at home herself. She had to raise her son all by herself for years. Not to mention that she had to lie to him every day. She hated this. But from what Irene had told them, the siblings would end up at this place anyway. So why not give them a new family here instead of sending them to someone who had no idea what the children's destiny was?

"I agree. Everybody deserves a second chance. We should at least try it."

That voice came from Theodora Stanton. The woman was living close to the Warehouse. That's why Irene proposed that she should take a look at how things are going to report to them from time to time.

In today's circle of Regents were fife women, excluding Irene, and fife men attending. To keep it balanced.

Adwin didn't need long to see that all of the female voices were on Irene's side. Now it was up to the men.

"Alright, after the voice of... female intuition made itself clear, I believe we need to take a rational look at this.", Adwin said, catching all six women in the room off guard.

"What do you mean? We can't think rational?", Theodora throw in. The others were fast to agree. Again.

"Kosan, I think they do have a point. Why should we miss the opportunity to get our next generation raised first hand?", Philip was the first one of his side of the table to say anything at all today.

And he earned positive reactions from all attending persons. Except for Kosan. But even the boss of the Regents knew when he had lost a battle. So he decided to give in this time.

"Alright. I think it's time to release a bronze victim out of her prison. It's time to release Helena Georgina Wells."


End file.
